Estate planning is much more than having a Will or Trust and Powers of Attorneys. If done right, organizing your affairs can help avoid family feuds, loss of assets, reduce taxes, legal fees and delays in the transfer of assets to the next generation. 

Ask yourself, with the plan you have now or lack thereof, if somebody had to step in and manage your affairs, would they know what to do? Have you left a clear roadmap for your spouse or loved one? We all have our own unique way of managing our finances – paper, excel spreadsheets, word documents and the like but would it make sense to your spouse or loved one? Better yet, would they be able to find it? And if they are able to find it and understand it, have you given them the authority to act on your behalf?

In addition to having your estate planning documents in order and up-to-date, you need to develop a user friendly guide for managing your affairs. During my first meeting with a new client, I encourage them to utilize the binder and instructions I have provided to develop a personalized Wealth Management Guide to organize important information about their life and financial affairs. It sounds labor intensive and nobody has time to add another thing to their to do list but trust me, finding out that your loved one has a mortgage that was being paid online until their incapacity or death is no fun when you are standing in front of a foreclosure court with limited options.

You can’t assume things will run smoothly in your absence without a plan. Unless, you have shared details of your financial affair with somebody else or left clear instructions, how would anybody know what your assets, debt and liabilities are or your preference in handling your most precious assets —your spouse, children, pet and YOU? In the mist of your absence, a crisis or even death, your family should not have to dig through your mail or get the tech genus next door to break into your online accounts to determine the state of your affairs. You need to provide clear instructions.

Who wants to talk about not being here anymore, let alone spending a week or more organizing their affairs but what greater gift could you give yourself and your family than a well-planned estate.